Chrysalis
by Inspirationally Red
Summary: One night deep in the depths of the darkest city of all, Roxas fights against the shadows of his desire for vengeance, and the man who started it all. Oneshot, Riku/Roxas, hinted Axel/Roxas and Riku/Sora


**Title: **Chrysalis

**Rated: **T

**Genre: **Horror/Romance

**Pairing: **Riku/Roxas, hinted Axel/Roxas and Riku/Sora

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney

**Summary: **Riku couldn't deny he hadn't felt something when he and the Nobody duelled on the top of Memory's Skyscraper. Oneshot, Riku/Roxas

* * *

Countless constellations of glimmering stars spread themselves over an ebony background of darkened sky, the brilliant radiance from the full moon dwarfing any other star that shone in the heavens. A pair of blue eyes darted left and right from the shadows of a street corner, seeming to glow as they tracked the movements of two Heartless that stalked the street, the wide beams of their luminous eyes cutting paths through the darkness. The owner of the eyes lips curved in a small, unfeeling smile as he leant casually against the corner of the house, feeling the darkness that massed within the crumbling mortar shrink away from the light's scorching, all-consuming touch as he glided forward.

It was always like this. The sharp inhalation of breath, the way the Heartless's eyes jumped towards his hands as he summoned his Keyblade. The bell-like ring of cold steel, reinforced to be diamond-hard by various synthesis. The subtle widening of eyes as the Heartless portrayed their fear, fumbling in a weak attempt to attack in time to stop his advance. Sickeningly wet sounds as his serrated-edged double-edged Keyblade shattered two ribcages and pierced through two hearts in swift, almost lazy strokes.

And the blood. An invisible barrier woven by spells stopped the blood from staining his blade, rolling off his diamond-like sword. The blood that coursed down the Heartless chests, dripping onto the asphalt with sound almost like applause, as if the blood were portraying its admiration for such skillful killing.

Roxas sighed, closing his eyes briefly to shield them from the vivid flash of his Keyblade disappearing. There was no point in glorifying such a blatant piece of killing. Killing was killing, no matter how many times you used fancy words to jazz it up.

Roxas's head snapped up as the sound of a quiet growl came hissing through the darkness somewhere in front of him. Not wanting to take the chance that the growler might be another Heartless, he took off, boots making no sound as they drummed on the asphalt.

Dashing lightly over to a streetlamp, his arms worked as he hauled himself up it. Roxas winced at the flare of heat he could feel as he balanced atop it. Tensing, he sprang through the darkness, tottering to regain his balance as he landed on the edge of a nearby roof.

Leap. Run with rapid footsteps across a concrete roof. Leap. He jumped toward the next building, this one at least a dozen levels high, strangely enjoying the feeling of the wind as it buffeted around him. Pushing his weight forward, he landed on the edge of the roof, tottering for a few seconds before he regained control and took off again. His coat blew out behind him as he ran, grasping the rim of his hood so it wouldn't fall off, deep blue eyes narrowed with a fiery intent as they scoured the gloom. The shadowy city streets stood veiled in darkness below him as the wind moaned through The World That Never Was. Peering through the darkness, Roxas caught sight of the numerous Heartless below, drawn by the summoning of his Keyblade, filling the night with their shrill wails as they tore and rent the air before them in frustration, unable to reach the Serendipitous Key.

Roxas slowed his pace to a walk, wariness still prickling its icy fingers along his spine as his eyes darted around, scanning his surroundings. The City That Never Was was a dangerous place, populated by bands of roving Heartless, and the occasional Organization member. Twin acid green eyes bore through the blackness, burning a hole in the side of Roxas's head as he walked by, stubbornly ignoring the Organization's eighth member.

He was angry, Roxas could sense that. Although how he could be when Nobodies couldn't feel was beyond him, Roxas could still plainly see the fury glittering behind his green eyes, shaking the normally rigid line of his shoulders and trembling his jaw, never mind how seemingly casually he leant against the front window of one of the city's perpetually closed shops.

"Your mind's made up?" Axel asked finally, with the forced calm of somebody trying hard to be coherent, and Roxas, frustrated, ground to a halt.

Of course Axel knew what he was planning.

"Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know." Any other day his words would have been charged with the memory of some emotion. Frustration, maybe, or curiosity. Now though, his words dropped from between his lips like the heaviest of stones, hanging in the air between the two Nobodies like an almost physical rift.

Roxas had never fully appreciated just how true the fact that Nobodies couldn't feel was. He certainly wasn't feeling anything now, and it was that strangeness, the feeling like he should be feeling something but he wasn't, that left an odd, bitter taste in his mouth.

Axel was out of his position in a twice, tensed over in a sort of passionate anger, green eyes flashing wildly. Those acid green eyes seemed to lay bare his soul, and Roxas couldn't help shivering, the momentary chill breaking through his apathy. "You can't turn on the Organization! You get on their bad side, and they'll destroy you!"

Roxas turned away. "No one would miss me," he thought it funny Axel had forgotten such a fact. He was a tool. That's all he was: a tool, a weapon, some sort of deus-ex-machina to help the Organization further its goals and he was sick of it.

He began walking again.

"That's not true," Axel whispered, voice suddenly softer, more broken, and Roxas wished he could cover his ears. He was suddenly certain he did not want to hear what Axel was going to say next.

"I would."

Roxas bit his lip, and ran through the night.

* * *

The winds buffeted closely around him, making the long, dark folds of his coat cling to his body like a second skin. Situated at the top of the building as he was, the coat thankfully muffled the harsh effects of the cold.

Riku's eyes narrowed behind his blindfold as he scanned the darkened street below him, gloved hands splayed against the worn concrete of the roof as he sank into a crouch. The beams from the luminous eyes of the Heartless fled crazily around the cracked, broken cobbles, illuminating the darkness in a swathe of bright light.

Teeth gritted in pain at the Heartless's chilling, ear-splitting wails, Riku straightened out of his crouch, eyes gluing onto the thin figure in the black cloak fighting his way through the horde of Neoshadows. The vivid, whirling blades of his two Keyblades sent the Heartless's black blood coursing freely over the stone, the soles of his boots squelching in the thick liquid as he jumped and whirled, always moving, always on the defensive behind a pair of blades, one gleaming with a bright white light, the other swirling with a darkness so tangible it made his throat tighten in anticipation.

The Nobody was here.

He saw him; Riku could briefly glimpse a flash of bright blue eyes, so much like Sora's they made his heart ache, and a shock of blonde hair beneath the dark fabric of his hood. Pale, bloodless lips curving in a thin smirk, the Nobody eliminated two of the surrounding Heartless in a single stroke before running full tilt at the side of the skyscraper.

Riku pulled back his hood and waited. The Nobody wasn't stupid. Even he knew it was nearly impossible to defeat such a group of Heartless alone. He almost smiled.

"Come and get me."

* * *

Roxas gritted his teeth, body trembling as his booted feet drummed against the side of the building, sending him higher with every step. The imposter stood blatantly at the edge of the rooftop, wearing the coat he knew so well, yet he had no right to. A curious swathe of dark fabric concealed his eyes. Anger coursed through Roxas as he drew back Oblivion for a throw. Blinded, the imposter would never see the deadly blades coming towards him, aimed for the killing strike.

This was the man who had kidnapped Xion. This was the man, the imposter, who had changed everything.

He deserved to die.

He threw Oblivion.

Smiling, the imposter stepped forward and fell off the side of the rooftop.

* * *

Riku felt the air rush past him, felt the exhilarated giddiness as his world briefly turned upside down, and saw the startled expression of the Nobody. Then his gloved fingers curved around the hilt of the black Keyblade, and he was falling.

They exchanged wide-eyed, bewildered glances. Riku saw Sora, reflected in the Nobody's face, and smiled.

The Nobody's eyes narrowed.

Freefall.

* * *

Roxas cleared the lip of the roof. Flipping onto his feet, he stared incredulously down at the imposter, now fighting the Heartless, slashing Oblivion through the thick, clinging mess of monsters in easy, rhythmical movements with no sign of the normal handicaps Roxas would have expected from being blindfolded.

How could he still be alive?

Clearing the thought from his mind with a grimace, Roxas leapt down from the skyscraper, feeling the rush of air as it swept past him before he landed, back to back with the imposter. Together, they fought their way through the Heartless, a constantly moving, glittering frenzy of slashing blades and whirling limbs beneath dark, dark coats.

The continual clash of blades meeting flesh formed a disjointed rhythm in Roxas's mind, coalescing into a blurred, muddy haze of images filtering through the back of his mind. Even as he leapt, slashed, swung and stabbed, keeping the Heartless at bay with the scorching light of his Keyblade, those images paraded through his head in sudden, staticy bursts.

The boy in red.

Xion.

The imposter.

… Kairi?

Oathkeeper tore through the thick hide of one of the Neoshadows, and he fancied it was almost like paopu fruit.

* * *

The Neoshadow disappeared in a burst of black blood and a chilling wail, and Riku whirled around.

He was panting heavily, fingers coated in a faint sheen of sweat beneath his gloves where he clenched ahold of the black Keyblade, but it was more than that.

Those images. The images that had marched through his head as they'd fought, slashing through the Heartless...

Xion? Who was Xion?

Was Xion the 'she' Naminé had spoken of?

He saw the Nobody and leapt backwards, but the Nobody was on him.

* * *

Roxas felt the bite of Oblivion at it smashed against Oathkeeper, arms shaking from the force of the impact. Clashing one of his weapons against the other left an unsettling taste in his mouth, as if the whole world had flipped, but he gritted the feeling back.

Nothing else mattered now. The imposter was all that mattered.

The imposter proved to be just as hard an opponent as any of the other times they had fought, countering his strikes with maddening ease. The imposter's taunting smirk, and the easiness with which he fended him off, only sent further spikes of rage through him.

Die! Die!

He was in his way. He deserved to die!

A strangled scream built and ripped from his throat, and he slashed forward.

* * *

Riku's voice exploded out of him in a harsh gasp as he crashed down to the rocky floor.

"Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?"

"Shut up!" the white Keyblade hissed through the air towards him, a deadly weapon loaded with centrifugal force Riku was barely able to block, sending it spinning away across the stone floor that was slick with black blood. The Nobody swept up his hand, resummoning the white Keyblade. His eyes blazed blue as he glared, and Riku let out a shiver despite himself. The Nobody's eyes, so much like Sora's, smoldered in the pale space between the lips of his hood, burning him down to the bone.

"How many times do I have to beat you?" The Nobody spat, voice loaded with hatred and menace. The white Keyblade slashed the air, arching a path through the darkness that cloaked the square with its bright white glow, and Riku's trembling increased, rattling his limbs, expelling his breath in short, painful gasps.

Inside him, the darkness raised its head to sniff the air, and growled in pleasure of what it found.

It liked what it saw, and Riku couldn't see how he had any other choice.


End file.
